A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Boas names the lightning maker Ingnirtung and the thunder maker Udluqtung, also called Kadlu. He could not obtain the third sister’s name. Their house stands far inland in the west, supported by whale ribs, and they dislike approaching the sea. Visitors must leave quickly because Ingnirtung threatens them with lightning. The account says even stones leap down hills in fear when the storm begins.

Ingnirtung strikes red stones together to make lightning, Kadlu rubs sealskins and sings to make thunder, and the unnamed sister produces rain through urination. Lightning also kills and cooks the deer they eat. In a separately attributed Akudnirmiut report, a distant community beyond Iglulik is said to supply dried small-seal skins for Kadlu’s work. That is a report about another community, not a first-hand description of its practices. Rasmussen’s Smith Sound tale instead has two sisters, a human family conflict and starvation preceding transformation; those details are not imported into Boas’s three-sister account.

Three distinct weather makersWhale-rib-supported inland dwellingThunder from rubbed sealskinsLightning hunts and cooks deer
01

Origins & earliest records

Franz Boas, The Central Eskimo (1888), Kadlu the Thunderer. The core account does not identify an individual storyteller; the final distant-community report explicitly names Akudnirmiut transmission.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete Kadlu the Thunderer section, p.600. Names, three different weather actions and final Akudnirmiut attribution inspected.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    The Central Eskimo

    Franz Boas, collector · 1888

    Kadlu the Thunderer, p.600; complete section.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textBoas 1888: Kadlu the ThundererResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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